Ewan The Dream Sheep Review

I mentioned in my previous post (that you can read here) that I would do a review of Ewan The Dream Sheep so as promised, let’s get started…

We bought Ewan when we were expecting Amelia because I had heard such good things about him that sealed the deal for me that he was a must have for our nursery.

Ultimately as a new parent you will try absolutely anything that you think might help your baby to sleep and I have to say that for us, Ewan really works!

Features:

• Four different sound options; running water, hoover, heartbeat and classical music
• All sound options are accompanied by a soft heartbeat in the background
• Gentle red glow from his tummy
• Velcro tail to attach to the side of your cot or pram

How it works – Babies in the womb are able to hear and can also see a soft red glow of light through your stomach. The sounds they are most familiar with are things like the hoover or the water when you take a shower. The idea behind Ewan is very simple, these sounds are already familiar to your baby and in a world where everything is new and overwhelming they are comforted by sounds they recognise and in a dark room the red glow can make them feel like they are still inside your tummy.

Things I like about it:

• For us, it works! It took a couple of weeks for us to see the full effect but we are now able to put Amelia down in her cot (awake) and by the time Ewan has finished his cycle she is sound asleep
• The Velcro tail is very strong, Ewan is able to dangle from the side of the cot and certainly for some time yet Amelia wouldn’t be able to pull him down. This means I know she is safe and can’t accidently get too close to him in her sleep.
• The sounds are soft and gentle, they don’t disturb you through the monitor when you’re trying to have a little relax time in the evening and they don’t stimulate baby to move or kick around in excitement.
• There are two colour options, the original purple (head and feet) or a newer grey option. We chose grey because her nursery is grey and pink and it fitted in perfectly. A little vain I know but the purple would have looked so out of place.
• Ewan is a bit of a fatty, his belly is so round but it’s really squishy and I am sure when Amelia is bigger she will love to give him cuddles and squeeze him.
• He’s portable, working off 3 AAA batteries you can take Ewan anywhere with you, so far he has been in every room in the house, to friends, to family and I would definitely take him out with us in the pram if we were going out for dinner or anywhere that we wanted Amelia to take a nap in her pram.
• He helps to create a routine for her, she may not even be aware of it yet, but subconsciously we are ingraining in her that lying in her Sleepyhead and listening to Ewan means it is bed time. I only play him at night to help her sleep as she doesn’t seem to need his help for her day time naps so she is learning that this routine means it is night time.

Things I don’t like about it:

• Inside his tummy there is the battery pack with a few options (volume, light on or off) and also one for Demo mode or Normal mode. Personally other than in a store on display I can’t think of any time you would use Demo mode (he only plays for about 3 mins and then goes off) I think it would be more useful to have a Normal and Extended mode where you opt to have him play for longer if needed.
• I would have loved for there to be some sort of low battery warning, I know this is probably quite a high tech things to expect from a soft toy but when you are so dependant on something to help your baby sleep you don’t want to turn him on at bed time and find the batteries are flat. So far this has happened to me at 4am, 11pm and 7pm. I can tell you I was cursing Ewan the bloody Dream Sheep at 4am carrying a baby that would normally go straight back to sleep but was having none of it without her sheep buddy.

So, we are huge fans of Ewan in this house hold and for his price I think he is worth a try for any parent who’s baby doesn’t drop off to sleep easily. My only advice is to stick with it, if it doesn’t have the desired effect on day one, don’t give up because once it does start to work you won’t know how you ever lived without it.

Rachel xx